300KW rotary converters in the Goodrum Substation (AC end), near Porter, Indiana. This negative is discolored through the center area,, August 14, 1920

The Harry F. Brown papers are composed of 478 images on glass plate negatives, photographic prints, flexible negatives, 35mm film, and 35mm mounted slides. The majority of the images were taken between 1908 and 1933, with a few from 1959 and 1964. Most of the images contain railroad electrification equipment, and specifically anchor bridges and catenary along the shoreline route of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. Precisely numbered anchor bridges with exact locations appear in the photographic prints and the 35mm slides.

There are also groups of other types of images within the collection. The flexible negatives contain interior and exterior images of the power plants at Cos Cob, Connecticut and New Haven, Connecticut, as well as at Nantasket, Massachusetts. Both the glass plate negatives and the flexible negatives depict the construction of catenary. The flexible images show the Milford Bridge under construction. The 35mm slides contain a series of images of the wreck of the Federal in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in July 1955, as well as images of multiple unit passenger cars. Finally, the slides also contain images of equipment sold to the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad by Goodrum Substation near Porter, Indiana.

The collection includes several noteworthy images. The glass plate negatives include an image of a model of an electrification system and an electrified railroad car on a table. The photographic prints contain two images of a fire on the railroad tracks. Finally, there are a few images throughout the collection of catenary wires being built by workmen with horses and buggies.

Special thanks to Michael Ribuffo of East Northport, New York, for his valuable assistance in revising and refining the descriptions of several of the images in 2004.